One thing is for sure, my kitchen is now light and bright and I love working in this space now!

.The last few weeks of Aug & Sept, 2011 were spent working on my "Front Patio"

A constant soggy soil area that had snakes living in holes under the plantings... I had enough! Pulled everything green and living, put some "Round up" to kill all weeds then pulled the sidewalk.

The before.

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After trying to do the job myself I called "Dan the Handy Man" to come give me a hand. I just could not get the stone pavers to lay flat.He did a great job!I then built my own trellis and had the guys secure it to the wall.

This has been a fun project and it's also so exciting to me, to have created a space I can go sit and enjoy the wonderful Florida Breeze. I then got busy potting some Roses and hung a Mandevilla under the rafters.

Curb Appeal "is" all that is cracked up to be!

My Master Closet Re-Do

I finally had enough of my messy Master Closet. The space is large but it had the ugly wire shelving that was put in there by the builder some 20 years ago. All I have to say is, "Who thought up those shelves and whoever put them in, could they have done better? So after living in this townhouse for 6 years I got to it.It's May of 2012 and I had the energy and the need to do something about it!

Now that I look at the before I'm a bit ashamed of how bad I kept it!

My first thought was how would I design it. What better way than to use blue painters tape and put the design up on the walls.

Then I went to my HD guy and had him cut sheets of "Sandy Pine" into my measurements. I re did the measurements 3 times to be sure and I'm happy to say, "They were perfect"!Right in the closet I sanded and primed the wood then using mollys, L brackets and liquid nails I got to work putting my puzzle together.

This job was not as hard as I once thought, but I didn't want to pay the extreme price the contractors were asking. They gave me quotes from $1500. to $3000. I paid a grand total of $245.00 I will admit my hands hurt and were bruised along with one shin that got a bump when a board fell.All in all it took me about 14 days with only 3 or 4 hours each day doing the work.

Every day my design started to make sense and I was liking what was coming together.

I think I'll come back as a contractor in my next life. It's really fun and quite rewarding to do the home projects yourself and it leaves your money in the bank where it belongs.

My Fireplace Wall UnitAfter moving into my Townhouse here in Florida I missed the fireplace I had in my farm house back in Illinois.I know, some would wonder why I needed a fireplace but we do get some chilly nights on the Gulf side near the Tampa Bay area. Besides it looks so nice.I wanted to build a real fireplace but my HOA said no.My mind went into overdrive so I built my own.

First thing I did was get an Amish heat surge that we see advertised on the TV. They use the electric of a light bulb and generated a really nice flame but look how sad it was against the blank wall in my living room.

This project was really easier than it may look. I took measurements to my HD guy and to cut the wood. Once I got to work it took me about 5 days to complete. It's really cozy in the evenings and this past winter I have not had to turn on the central heat because this little heat surgemade the entire house comfortable when the temps went down.